


The Guardian: A Spirited Away Story

by KawaiiKonekohime



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe- Spirited Away, Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 15:29:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14059941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KawaiiKonekohime/pseuds/KawaiiKonekohime
Summary: The Butterfly Miraculous holds great power. Yubaba knew that from the moment she found it. She could see the possibilities of expanding her resort to the human world. Ladybug and Chat Noir, the guardians of the bridge between the spirit and human world, could see the dangers. That’s why Ladybug used her essence and sacrificed her body to protect the bridge and her partner. Sixteen years later, that essence is fading and both worlds are in danger. It is up to Ladybug’s long-lost partner to set things right. Too bad he doesn’t remember anything.





	The Guardian: A Spirited Away Story

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody! It's Koneko back with another one-shot! This one I wrote for the Studio Ghibli challenge on the Miraculous Amino. So, enjoy this Miraculous Ladybug/Spirited Away crossover!
> 
> Needless to say, this story has been crossposted on the Miraculous Amino.

What’s in a name? A lot.

“Chihiro…” Yubaba hissed the name as if it burned her to say. She would never forget that name. That was the name of the little human girl that put her beautiful resort in ruins. News of the human girl that ran rampant around the spirit resort spread quickly. The news that the little girl and her parents returned to the human world spread even quicker.

The witch scowled as she counted her tiny pile of gold. The stench of human still lingered around the resort, even almost a year later. That stench frightened off many of the resort guests, especially those who heard rumors of the little girl’s escape, and Yubaba found herself bleeding money from every end. “At this rate, the resort will be shut down within a year…,” she muttered.

She stood from her desk and began to pace. “There has to be some way I can spin this…,” she mumbled to herself as she walked. “Some way I can make humans seem…good or useful… Think, Yubaba, you can do this.”

There was a knock at her office door. The witch stopped in her tracks and scowled. She floated to the door and yanked it open. She boomed, “This had better be good!”

The little worker—her name was forgotten even by Yubaba herself—shrunk pathetically at Yubaba’s angry glare. “T-there’s a guest,” she whimpered. “H-he’s asking for you directly.”

Yubaba scowled. “I am very busy,” she said between bared teeth. “Surely you can handle this yourself?”

The worker meekly shook her head. “H-he insists, Mistress. He wanted to go to the bath house, but he says he has no gold. He says you’ll accept the payment he’s offering.”

Yubaba frowned. This mysterious customer not only was bold enough to enter her bathhouse without an ounce of gold to his name, but he was also brave enough to summon the owner despite the inability to pay? All in all, this person sounded just confident or stupid enough to pique her curiosity. “Show me where he is.”

The worker scurried along, and Yubaba followed closely behind, floating just above the ground. The worker stopped when they got to the bath house. She pointed to a lean man. His face was hidden behind a pair of large sunglasses. His tall but lean body was hidden by a trench coat that lightly brushed against the floor.

Yubaba narrowed her eyes. Sunglasses inside at night? Great. He was a pretentious one… “You there!” she called as she approached him. “Are you the one that won’t pay?”

The man chuckled in a deep voice. “I am willing to pay, but I have no gold,” he explained. “I am weary from my travels and I need the baths to help me relax.”

“Why are your travels of any concern to me if you can’t pay?” Yubaba demanded.

“Well,” the man started, not at all off-taken by her crisp tone. “I recently returned from the human world. I thought that would be of interest to you. You know, considering your human infestation.”

“That human,” Yubaba growled. “Was an isolated incident, almost one year ago.”

“Yet, your halls still smell of her,” the man mused. “The child is doing well, by the way. She grows like a weed without a care in the world while you are here, with a dying business.”

Yubaba growled again and crossed her arms. “You are not doing a good job of invoking my generosity,” she warned lowly. “Speaking of things you don’t know, while spouting lies about the human world.”

The man chuckled. “I assure you, I am not lying, and I don’t want your charity,” he said. “I would want my payment to speak for itself. For I offer a way to save your resort and make you the hub of the Spirit World again. I offer you revenge on that girl and all other humans.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“I’ll let you be the judge of that,” the man shot back with ease. “In the human world, there is very little magic. Witches like yourself do not exist. The only magic available are contained in little jewels known as Miraculous.”

“You’re running out of time and I’m running out of patience.”

The man silently shuffled through his pocket and brought out a small black and red box. “In the old days,” he said. “In the time before the guardians, spirits used to travel freely from world to world. Once the guardians came to be, we were trapped here, and the humans were sealed away from us. It was the way the guardians wanted it.”

Yubaba eyed the box suspiciously. “I’m aware of history,” she muttered. Why did she even entertain this man further? He clearly had nothing of value to offer her.

“But, it’s not the way nature intended,” the man continued. “Spirits were created to travel freely. Humans were created to be possessed! To be our mules! And you, Yubaba, can have the power to grant that right again. Imagine, all the spirits coming to you for their way of traveling to the human world. Your resort can be the home of the new bridge to the human world. The odor that human left here can be your path to a new beginning.”

Yubaba raised an eyebrow. Now he said something interesting... “And why would spirits want to travel to the human world?” she asked.

“Our powers are stronger there,” the man explained. “Imagine, the food, the power, the wonder of it all. Our people will be worshipped like gods. Sacrifices in their name, as many servants as they want, all the gold they can stand, and you—you would be at the center of it all. You would be the god of gods.”

Yubaba’s eyes widened at the thought. The fame… The gold… The power… The GOLD…! Why care for a failing resort when she could be hailed at the queen of two worlds? “Give it!” she demanded, reaching for the small box.

The man pulled it just out of her reach. “Not yet,” he said. “First, a bath, please.”

———————————

Ladybug let out a small gasp, suddenly pulled from her trance. Chat Noir looked at her in concern. “You were out for a minute,” he said, his voice giving away the fact that it was much longer than a minute. “Is everything okay?”

They sat together as they had for hundreds of years, preventing spirits from using the portal to the human world and turning away any human unfortunate enough to wander inside.

“Trouble is brewing,” Ladybug said softly. She glanced at the portal behind her. “I feel it.”

“What do you mean?” Chat Noir asked. “Another wormhole like the one those humans came through before? I know we’re not supposed to abandon our posts, but we can catch it this time before any damage is done.”

Ladybug shook her head. “No, nothing like that,” she explained vaguely. “Two great powers just became one. I don’t know what exactly will happen, but it is not good.”

“What can we do?” Chat Noir asked.

The far-off look in Ladybug’s eyes told him that he would not get an answer any time soon. She was busily trying to chase down this new power that she sensed.

He sighed, knowing that she was back in her trance-like state that she was usually in. He did not know when she would return to his side again. Before this brief moment of consciousness, her last trance lasted two years. She took her work very seriously, leaving her partner so close, but in the dust. “LB?” he asked. “I know you can’t hear me, but I think that’s when I can talk to you the most. After all, this is the way you’ve been for 900 of the 902 years we’ve been guardians. You were so excited when you discovered you had the power to escape your body and see beyond. But…that’s when you started leaving. I wonder, do you get lonely, Ladybug?”

He paused for an answer that never came. “I do,” he said, unfazed by the silence his partner gave off. His closed his eyes and continued, “All the time. I miss you. We were told that we were meant for each other, that we were two parts of a whole. Yet, I always seem to be left behind. What can I possibly do to help you?”

“Run!” Chat Noir jumped at the sound of his partner’s voice and opened his eyes. He met her panicked face. The color immediately drained from his. “Lady—.”

She quickly stood and pulled him up. “It is coming!” she cried.

“What?”

“Chat, go!” Ladybug said. “I will do what I can over here!”

“What’s going on?” Chat demanded. “What can I do to help?”

“You can run!” Ladybug cried in exasperation. She glanced over her shoulder in panic.

Chat looked in that direction as well. He squinted. Nothing seemed out of place. What she was so afraid of must have been far off.

“My sweet Chaton,” Ladybug said softly. “Listen. You have to go.”

Chat frowned. “Go?”

Ladybug nodded. “To the human world,” she explained quickly. “This evil is trying to escape this world and bring ruin to theirs. You must seal the portal from there.”

“What about you?” Chat asked. “Sealing the portal means—.”

“I know,” Ladybug said softly. “I know. Magic will cease to exist at all in the human world and no one will be able to travel between worlds, not even us. Our roles as guardians would be over.”

“We’ll be separated,” Chat said, an ache in his throat at what his lady was suggesting.

“But you’ll get away,” she said with soft eyes. “That’s what matters to me. We knew the risks when we took on this role. But now, that’s not important. You need to go before it is too late and everything is destroyed.” Ladybug placed a kiss on his cheek, then took a step away from him. “Go. Seal the portal from that end and I will handle this one. Please.”

Chat Noir felt sick to his stomach. “Ladybug—.”

“Go!” Ladybug yelled once more. She roughly pushed him into the portal.

Chat’s eyes widened as Ladybug’s strong image faded away and a dark blue sky replaced it. He gasped as he fell out of the sky and onto the soft grass of Earth below. He looked back at the sky. He knew it was useless to do so, but a part of him hoped that Ladybug followed him through the portal.

The tiny rip in the dimension was almost unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but Chat Noir had over 900 years of practice with it under his belt. A bright light and warmth streamed from it. He knew the feeling immediately. Ladybug was using her powers.

Minutes passed, and the brightness did not grow any dimmer. He narrowed his eyes. “She’s using too much…!” Was the evil she felt so strong that she felt that see need to use all her power against it? Was it worth ending her life over?

Tears stung his eyes. If she was going to do this, her sacrifice would not be in vain. He glowed with a dark power and channeled it to the tiny rip. It grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely. It let out a shockwave of power in return.

Chat Noir gasped as the power shockwave hit him and knock him off his feet. He groaned from the pain of the shockwave, the pain of hitting the ground so hard, and the pain of losing the love of his life indefinitely, if not forever.

The effects of closing the portal was quickly taking effect on Earth. Chat Noir groaned again, feeling his power leaving his body. His eyes felt heavy. What would happen to him when his magic faded away completely? That was a thought that lingered in the back of Chat Noir’s mind. What happened to Ladybug lingered in the forefront of it.

His eyes fluttered closed as he fell unconscious from the pain.  
————————————————  
“…drien…”

Adrien groaned, trying desperately to hold on to his dream to see what happened next. The dream always ended in the same place, but it seemed to be incomplete. He needed to know if the woman in his dreams, would be okay. He needed to know that she was still alive.

“Adrien!”

Adrien groaned again. Whoever was trying to wake him was incredibly persistent. His eyes fluttered open. “Nathalie…”

“Come along, Adrien,” Nathalie said. “You are the one who insisted on going to public school. At least wake up so you’ll be on time.”

Adrien sighed and sat up. “Of course,” he said with a yawn. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Nathalie nodded. “Your bodyguard will be waiting in the car.” She stood and walked away.

Adrien stretched and yawned again. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and lazily dragged himself out of bed. He quietly got himself ready for the day.

Like every morning after his recurring dream, he found his thoughts circling back to the woman in his dreams. “Ladybug…,” he whispered the name he grew to calling her. He could not remember what she called him in the dream, but he remembered her explicitly.

On the surface, he knew she was just a dream, a figment of his imagination. Yet, something deep down told him to wonder about Ladybug. To worry about her. To…love her.

Adrien sighed and shook his head of those thought. Falling in love with his imaginary friend was something that would definitely end with him in a mental hospital. He finished getting dressed, walked out of his room, and out of the house.

He mumbled a good morning to his bodyguard and the man gave a gruff grunt in return. The car started and drove off towards Adrien’s school.

The ride was a silent one. Had given up on his bodyguard making conversation years ago, Adrien silently stared out the window, watching the city go by. They pulled up beside a construction site and the car stopped. Adrien glanced up to look out the windshield. A red light.

He sighed and gave his attention back to the window. The construction site had been blocked off for as long as he could remember, and no one seemed to know what was being built there. Since he entered public school, kids constantly told stories of the construction site being haunted and the daring students going in to never return.

He hated that old construction site. It was so creepy. To make matters worse, the car always seemed to stop at the traffic light beside it, no matter the time of day. He scowled at the old construction site as the car drove away and to the school.

Adrien silently walked into the classroom, ignoring the pre-class chatter to the best of his abilities. He sighed and sat his bag down. He glanced at Nino and raised an eyebrow. His best friend either had something extremely important to tell him or he had to use the bathroom. Adrien slowly took his seat, giving Nino a weary look. “You have something to say?”

“It happened again!” Nino said as soon as Adrien gave the go-ahead.

“What?” Adrien asked with a frown.

“Another person disappeared!” Nino said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Last seen near that construction site. I’m telling you, man! People get close to that place and they never return!”

“Oh yeah?” Adrien asked with a raised eyebrow. Sure, the construction site gave him the creeps, but he certainly did not believe the urban legends surrounding it. “Who? Someone we know?”

Nino looked giddy. Apparently, Adrien asked the exact question he wanted to hear. “Our teacher. Mrs. Bustier is missing.”

Adrien rolled his eyes and chuckled. These urban legends were certainly quickly getting out of control. “I’ll have to see it to believe it, man.”

“Well, you’d better start believing, dude!” Nino grinned, pointing to the woman that just walked into the classroom.

The woman had delicate features, from her soft brown hair to her button nose. She looked older than the teens in the classroom; she had to be 25 or 26 years old. She looked slightly lost but quickly gathering her bearing. She sat her belongings on the teacher’s desk and cleared her throat, getting the class’s attention. “Hello, everyone,” she said softly and shyly. “My name is Chihiro Ogino. I’ll be your substitute teacher for the time being.”

“Where’s Mrs. Bustier?” Nino called.

Adrien rolled his eyes again. Nino was clearly prompting the poor young substitute for answers that supported his ridiculous construction site theory. Still, he looked at Ms. Ogino, waiting for her answer.

Chihiro opened her mouth but closed it again. Whatever she was going to say was lost and replaced with a soft, “I’m sure she’s just sick and will be back as soon as she can.” She pulled a pack of papers out of her bag. “In the meantime, she left plenty of work for you to do.”

The classes groaned loudly and Chihiro let out a light laugh at their reaction. She instructed someone to pass out the papers and the class fell silent as everyone worked on their assignments.

———————————

Lunch hour finally came. Nino threw down his pencil as soon as the bell rang. He watched all the other students left the classroom, then flashed an annoyed look at his best friend, who was still busily writing the answer to the question he was working on. He waited ten more seconds before snatching away Adrien’s pen. “It’s lunchtime. Stop.”

“But I’m not done, yet,” Adrien huffed in protest.

“You are for the next hour!” Nino replied. “We’re going on a trip!”

Chihiro lifted her head, now making the effort to listen to their conversation. Adrien frowned. “Where?”

“Where do you think?”

Adrien’s brow furrowed in confusion, then raised with realization. “No way. That has bad idea written all over it. We’re not going to that construction site.”

“I thought you didn’t believe the rumors.”

“I don’t,” Adrien said. “But I still think it’s a dumb idea. It’s a construction site. Doesn’t sneaking in strike you as—I don’t know—dangerous?”

“Not in the slightest,” Nino said with a grin. “I’m going. Who knows? We might discover something cool!”

“Sorry, my friend,” Adrien sighed with a shake of his head. “I’m going to have to pass.”

Nino shrugged and stood. “Alright, man,” he chuckled. “When you’re ready to live a little, you know where I’ll be!” Nino gathered his things and stuffed them into his backpack. He gave one last grin to Adrien, before running out the classroom.

Chihiro watched him go silently. She looked back at Adrien. “You shouldn’t have let him go alone,” she warned.

“He shouldn’t have gone at all,” Adrien mumbled. “I don’t know what he was thinking.”

“He wasn’t,” Chihiro said softly. “She’s gotten stronger. She’s calling out to him. She’ll call out to the entire city until her army is strong enough to break the seal.”

Adrien frowned and stood. “The seal?”

“The seal between the human and spirit world,” Chihiro explained. “The bridge was destroyed years ago but wormholes appear. After the bridge destroyed, she took the tiniest wormhole she could find and exploited it to lure humans to her until she could create a new bridge.”

“Who?”

“The witch of the resort,” Chihiro replied. “Yubaba, the name stealer.”

Okay. Everyone in this school was insane. Adrien shook his head. “You can’t expect me to believe this,” he said. Why was he even entertaining this woman? “Witches? Spirits? Wormholes? If I’m being honest, it sounds like a giant fairytale.”

Chihiro glanced at the door, then back at Adrien. “Your friend is going towards the wormhole. Are you willing to take the risk of never seeing him again? Just because you don’t believe?”

“Why do you believe?”

Chihiro took a deep breath. “It’s easy to believe when you’ve seen it with your own eyes. That world… It’s not for humans. Yubaba is luring them there, and I seriously doubt it’s to enjoy the resort she runs.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“I don’t know,” Chihiro admitted with a shrug. “You seem like the right person to tell. You remind me of someone that I used to know.” Adrien was silent, waiting for her to elaborate. She never did. “Quickly. Before he enters the construction site. If he goes and forgets his name, it will be too late.”

Adrien nodded. Maybe this substitute was crazy. But…if she was not, if everyone that spread the rumors of the construction site were telling the truth, if people truly disappeared when they snuck into it, he needed to get to Nino quickly. Looking almost as crazy as the rest of the school was a risk he was willing to take for his friend. He abandoned his belongings at his desk and ran out of the classroom.

Adrien struggled to catch his breath once he stood in front of the construction site. He looked around. Despite running the whole way here, Nino was still nowhere in sight. He bit back a curse. “Nino…,” he groaned.

Once his breathing returned to normal, he stepped closer to the closed off construction site. If he wasn’t around the site, he must have gone inside already. Adrien surveyed the site, looking for a loose board or a hole in the tarp covering it or the fence around it—any way to gain access to the restricted area. He stopped by a large hole split by the fence and smiled to himself. “Bingo,” he whispered.

Careful not to cut his back on the fence, he squeezed under it and crawled to the other side. Once safely on the other side of the fence, he sighed with relief and stood. He looked around. “An amusement park…!” he breathed in surprise and wonder. Who knew an entire amusement park lay at the center of the creepy construction site and urban legends.

He chuckled. Maybe Nino realized it was simply an amusement park and left disappointedly. He could not wait to see the look on his best friend’s face when the lunch period ended! You know what? Why wait?

Adrien pulled out his phone and video called Nino. After the sixth ring, the phone gave up, telling him that Nino could not be reached. He frowned. That was strange. Nino’s phone was the source of his coveted music, so it was very rare for the DJ not to have it. Still, Adrien shrugged and opted to send him a message instead. “All this fuss about an amusement park?” he texted. “I told you it was nothing to be afraid of!”

Once the message was delivered, Adrien slipped the phone in his pocket and turned to leave. His eyes widened. The hole that he crawled through was gone. “What…?” He scoured the bottom of the fence in alarm. The hole was right there! He did not stray away far enough to make a mistake. He gulped. Crud. What if the rumors were not mumbo-jumbo after all?

Carnival music started to play behind him and he felt his stomach doing backflips. “O-okay!” he called. “Nino! Mrs. Bustier! Ms. Ogino! You win! You guys got me! You can stop now!”

Of course, no one answered. Adrien whimpered and turned around. Just like he dreaded, all the attractions lit up. He looked them over with a groan. “I hate you, Nino,” he muttered under his breath.

With his only means of escape gone, Adrien did not have many options. With dread lacing every step, he walked forward and deeper into the amusement park. He looked over one of the booths. It looked like a regular carnival game. Was this his means of escaping? Playing the carnival games until he won? That was doable. He took a deep breath and picked up one of the waiting baseballs, readying himself to knock down the milk bottles.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” a voice said from behind him.

Adrien let out a (totally manly) yelp and turned around. His eyes went wide. She seemed to be a spirit of a woman. In fact, the only thing clear about her was her cerulean eyes. The rest of her body was a see-through blur, but he would recognize her anywhere. “Ladybug…”

Ladybug’s eyes flashed a look of hope. “You… remember me?”

“Remember?” Adrien asked. “I-I recognize you from a dream. I mean, you’re wearing the same thing I saw a girl wearing in a dream, but this is the first time we’ve met, right?”

Ladybug hummed and nodded slowly. “So, you don’t remember me, after all. Do you remember your name?”

“Adrien.”

Ladybug let out a disappointed sigh. The hope disappeared from her eyes. “You were a fool to come here, Adrien. It is not safe.”

“My friend came here,” Adrien said. “I’m here to find him.”

“Your friend is either dead or possessed,” Ladybug said simply. “I have limited magic in this form, but I might have enough to open an exit. Leave this place and never return.”

Adrien narrowed his eyes. This Ladybug was much more calloused and commanding than the Ladybug of his dreams. “I’m not going anywhere without Nino. If you’re going to open an exit, we both need to go through it.”

“Adrien, be reasonable.”

“He’s my friend,” Adrien insisted. “Would you leave you best friend behind?”

Ladybug was silent, her eyes softening. “No…,” she said softly. “I suppose I wouldn’t. I warn you, getting him back will not be easy. Death is a great possibility. That is the last thing I want for you.”

“I’ll be fine,” Adrien assured. “I know karate.”

“I’m not sure how karate fares against spirits,” Ladybug warned. “Your friend has been captured by them. I’m not sure if he’s been eaten, or possessed, or put to work, but whichever it is, he is probably suffering. To free him, along with the other humans, you will have to defeat Yubaba.”

“The name stealer,” Adrien said.

Ladybug nodded. “You’ve heard of her. To even get to her, you have to help me get my physical body. If I’m able to return to my body, I will be at full strength and able to fight her.”

Adrien nodded. “I’ll help you.”

Ladybug looked at him in surprise. “Just like that?”

“It’s the only way to get Nino back, right?” Ladybug nodded in response. “Then of course I’ll help.”

“Okay,” Ladybug said softly. “We have to find my body, then I have to remember my name.”

Adrien frowned. “Remember your name? But Ladybug—.”

“Ladybug is my spirit name,” Ladybug explained. “I used to be the guardian of the bridge between the human world and spirit world. I could travel freely between the worlds because I had a spirit identity and a human one. When the bridge was destroyed, I lost my body and my human identity, along with most of my powers.”

“How was the bridge destroyed?”

“I destroyed it,” Ladybug explained. “Before that witch could use it to get to the human world. She was going to expand her resort at the expense of humans. A lot of people were going to die if the bridge wasn’t destroyed. I thought of a plan in the last seconds of the attack. I thought I could guard the spirit world and my partner could handle the human world. I never thought my partner would lose his memories of the spirit world. Nor did I think that I would lose mine of the human one.”

“But what’s this about a name?”

“A name holds great power,” Ladybug replied. “It has the power to unlock my memories and my partner’s, too. That’s why Yubaba stole it while I was weak. She hopes that without it, my magic will soon give way and that she will be able to create another bridge through this small wormhole. And she’s right. If I fade away and my magic is lost, so is all hope for humans.”

“Which means, finding your name is even more important,” Adrien said.

Ladybug nodded. “She keeps it hidden somewhere in this amusement park. I think I know where, but I can’t get close.”

“Where?”

Ladybug pointed to the haunted house. “There. I feel a bunch of negative energy coming from that place. I start losing my form whenever I get close. I’m sure there’s a spell on it to keep me from getting my name back.

“What do we have to do?”

“I have to hold on to you when we get there in order not to fade away,” Ladybug explained. “I’ll guide you once inside. You look for anything remotely like a name. It could be written anywhere.”

Adrien nodded and together, they walked towards the haunted house.

Once they were in front of the haunted house, they stopped, taking a minute to look it over. Adrien shivered as a chill went down his spine. The place certainly gave him the creeps. A dark aura seemed to float around the house. Now Adrien knew what Ladybug meant by negative energy.

Ladybug used a spell to solidify her form, so she could touch Adrien. She wrapped her arms around Adrien’s and stepped close to him. “I’m ready when you are.”

Adrien took a deep breath. “I hope you’re right about this and that your name is here.”

“I’m right,” Ladybug said softly. “I know I am. You don’t have to be scared. I’ll protect you.”

Adrien chuckled drily. “Do I look like a damsel in distress to you?”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow behind her mask. “Do you really want me to answer that, pretty boy?’

They laughed. Their light teasing gave them the courage they needed to push forward. They climbed the porch and stepped inside the haunted house.

“You’re going to regret coming in here…,” Yubaba’s scratchy voice bounced off the walls. Adrien could not tell if the witch was threatening them or if was part of the attraction that they were in. He simply hoped that they would find Ladybug’s name quickly, so they could leave.

“It could be anywhere,” Ladybug glanced at him while answering his unspoken thought. “I will use my magic to guide us, but whatever you do, please don’t let go of me.”

“I won’t,” Adrien assured.

Ladybug closed her eyes, trying to sense out her name despite all the dark energy around her. “Upstairs. In the hall.”

Adrien nodded. Covering her hands with his to make sure she did not accidently let go, he quickly lead them both upstairs. He scanned the area for anything out of the ordinary.

Wax monsters and shining knights decorated the hall. The spider webs were their only company. The flames on the torches that lightly illuminated the room, danced on the walls. There was no slip of paper or anything that should have caught their attention anywhere in sight.

“Maybe it’s in one of the rooms,” Adrien suggested.

Ladybug shook her head. “No, I know it’s in here. I feel it, Adrien. Please, let’s just look.”

Adrien sighed and nodded. He stepped forward every time Ladybug did, being her anchor while she searched on the walls. Not carved here. Once she confirmed that the walls were just walls and not a key to her past, she sighed and moved to checking the floor.

Adrien eyed the wax monsters as she searched. “These are so creepy,” he mused. “They’re so life-like. It’s almost like they can reach out and—.”

“Found it!” Ladybug exclaimed. She kneeled in front of a knight’s armor, smiling widely at the carving that sneakily peeked from below its feet. “I can only make out a part of it. Ma…Mari…”

The haunted house gave a loud groan. It was like Ladybug’s words unlocked another spell Yubaba placed on the attraction a long time ago. 

Adrien frowned. Did the wax figure in front of him just…move…? He looked over at Ladybug, and more importantly, at the knight she kneeled in front of. His eyes widened. He definitely saw that one move! “Ladybug!” he cried. He yanked her away from her spot just before the knight slammed its heavy axe where she used to be.

Ladybug let out a gasp. The armor suits creaked as they all started to move and rip the spider webs from themselves.

The wax monster, a mummy, let out a groan behind him.

“We have to get out of here!” Adrien said, standing quickly. He gripped Ladybug’s hand as tightly as he could and started to rush towards the stairs.

“B-but my name!” Ladybug cried.

One of the armor suits snatched a torch off the wall and threw it hard. They gasped and hit the floor. They barely dodged the flame, but it hit the stairwell and the fire quickly began to spread.

“No time!” Adrien said in panic. He scrambled to his feet and pulled Ladybug along. They rushed down the stairs, trying not to get licked by the quickly spreading flames.

Adrien pushed the front door, but it would not budge. He felt a growing lump in his throat. Was this the way he was doomed to die? In a tragic, supernatural fire next to the literal girl of his dreams? “That’s a horrible way to die,” he mumbled.

“I told you,” Ladybug mumbled. “I’m going to protect you. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. You’ll be able to pass if you’re not my anchor.” She took a deep breath and let go of Adrien’s arm.

Adrien gasped and quickly snatched back her hand. “Are you insane? You’ll fade away!”

“But you’ll get away,” Ladybug said. “That’s what matters to me.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “You’ve said that before.”

The flames were getting closer. The monsters were slowly making their way downstairs. Neither of them seemed to care. Adrien was on the cusp of a great discovery, and they could both feel their hearts racing because of it. “What?” Ladybug breathed.

“You always say that before you push me out of harm’s way and do something incredibly stupid,” Adrien whispered. “Just like you did sixteen years ago when you pushed me over the bridge. Now look at you. Stop trying to do things alone. Stop trying to protect me all the time.”

“Adrien…”

“What’s my name?” Adrien asked, gently touching Ladybug’s face and wiping away the tears that managed to fall down her face. “You know it, don’t you?”

Ladybug hesitated. “If I tell you…”

“I won’t be able to have the normal human life you wanted for me?” Adrien asked with a raised eyebrow. “What does that matter if I can be by your side again?”

“I left you lonely… In the human world, you have friends… A family… People that can stay by your side.”

Adrien sighed in understanding. “You heard me that day…,” Ladybug looked away and nodded. “Listen, none of that means anything without my Lady. I want to be with the one I love. That’s you. I want to help you, not live a lie.”

The flames surrounded them at this point. The wax monsters were closing in. The fire melted their faces, making them look scarier and intimidating. Adrien look one glance at the situation they were in, then looked back at Ladybug. “My name.”

Ladybug lifted his hand that gripped hers and brought it to her lips. “Chat Noir,” she whispered.

Adrien gasped as the dam broke, all the memories of the life he forgot rushing back to him. He fell to his knees, trying to gather his bearings.

Ladybug gasped. “Adrien!”

Adrien’s breathing returned to normal and he slowly rose to his feet, feeling more powerful than ever. “Claws out,” he transformed. Hand still gripping Ladybug’s tightly, he turned towards the door. “Cataclysm.” He destroyed the front door with one touch.

Chat Noir and Ladybug rushed through the doorway and away from the haunted house. She let go of Chat and her solid form faded. She focused her attention back on the door that Chat destroyed. “Miraculous Ladybug!” her magic was weak, especially compared to Chat, but it was enough to repair the door, so the monsters would burn in the fire.

Once they were no longer in immediate harm’s way, Chat dropped his transformation. He looked over Ladybug. “Are you okay?”

“As good as a disembodied spirit can be,” Ladybug replied with a small smile. The smile faded. “But that was a big waste of time…”

“Not true,” Adrien assured her. “We learned part of your name. Plus, I gain enough of my memories to accept my name and return to your side.”

Ladybug sighed. “Part of a name isn’t enough. It was Mari… Mari something. Marianna? Marina? Marian?”

Adrien sighed. “I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I can’t remember your name, even now.”

Ladybug could not help the hopeless look that crossed her face. “I was afraid you’d say that…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Adrien said confidently. “I have another idea.”

“What’s that?” Ladybug asked.

“Well, I bet you’d remember your name if you saw your body,” he explained. “We have to find it anyway to get you up to full strength. I sense it nearby. We’ll just kill two birds with one stone.”

Ladybug nodded. “Lead the way.”

Adrien nodded and began to walk, his returned magic allowing him to follow the faint tug of Ladybug’s body. Ladybug followed closely behind.

Ladybug noticed Adrien glancing back at her. She frowned. She huffed when she caught him doing it again. “What?”

“Hm?”

“I know that face,” Ladybug scowled. “You’re pitying me.”

“Do you blame me?” Adrien asked. “You’re transparent.”

“I did what I had to—.”

“You were selfish,” Adrien muttered. “Did you really think this what I wanted? Being separated from my soulmate for sixteen years was the worst feeling in the world.”

“What are you talking about? You couldn’t even remember me.”

“But now I do,” Adrien snapped. “And there’s nothing I want to do more than hug you. I can’t do that.”

“I was trying—.”

“We could have defeated Yubaba together. We could have saved both worlds with no sacrifices, if you just let me help you. You didn’t even think about that. We’re partners, yet you’ve been trying to fight on your own since the day we became guardians. That has to stop.”

Ladybug sighed and lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I never meant to hurt you, Chaton. I…I just didn’t want to see you in harm’s way. It was selfish of me and I’m so sorry.”

“This is what I mean,” Adrien mumbled. “I just want to hug you and tell you that it’s all okay. I can’t do that until you get your body back.” Ladybug lifted her head slowly. Adrien sent her a soft smile. “So, we’d better get it quickly.”

Ladybug’s eyes widened, then she broke into a smile. “Definitely!”

Ladybug followed Adrien to a far-off building. She frowned. It certainly did not match the décor or feel of the rest of the amusement park. The building was small and dank. The door was rusting to the point that if Ladybug did not know any better, she would assume that Chat Noir subjected it to a cataclysm or two. “Are you sure it’s here…?”

Adrien nodded. “I followed the pull directly here.” He opened the door and peeked inside.

“What do you see?” Ladybug asked, her voice dropped to a whisper.

“I see…!” Whatever else Adrien was going to see was lost when a pair of giant, chubby hands wrapped around his waist and yanked him inside.

“Adrien!” Ladybug cried. She ran inside after him. She gasped at the giant baby holding Adrien as if he were a doll.

“Did you bring me this new toy?” the giant baby asked. “Thank you.”

“You’re Yubaba’s son…,” she breathed. “Aren’t you?”

The baby nodded. “I’m Boh. Did my Mama send you to deliver my new toy?”

“Ladybug!” Adrien whined. “Help!”

“Oh,” Ladybug said gently, trying not to startle the child. “That’s not a toy, er…little one. He’s a person.”

“But he smells so similar to the last toy I had,” the baby mumbled.

“The last toy?” Ladybug asked quickly. “Where is it?”

Boh pointed to a pile of discarded toys. Ladybug looked at it with wide eyes. If her body was somewhere among that pile, they had a lot of digging to do. Ladybug giggled nervously and looked back at Boh. “Is it okay if I get my friend back?”

“No,” Boh huffed. “He’s my new toy. I’m keeping him or else, I’m going to cry, and my Mama will get you.”

Ladybug bit her bottom lip. They really did not have time for this. She had to think of a solution quickly. “What if…I can make you a better toy?”

Boh frowned. “You can do that?”

“Of course,” Ladybug promised. “But I’ll need the help of my friend that you’re holding.”

Boh contemplated over his choices. He sighed and let Adrien go. “Don’t forget your promise.”

“I won’t,” Ladybug assured, rushing to Adrien to make sure he was unharmed.

Adrien sent her a smile as he stood to let her know that he was okay. They nodded at each other and ran towards the toy pile, searching through all the toys quickly. Occasionally, Ladybug would ask that he would put certain toys aside.

Adrien grunted as his threw a giant ball to the side. Ladybug gasped. “Adrien, look!” He stopped and followed to where her finger pointed.

A pale arm stuck out of the pile. “That’s it…,” Ladybug whispered, her heart racing. “My body…”

Adrien narrowed his eyes. Despite being dead for sixteen years and buried under a mountain of toys, the arm looked as healthy as his. His bet was that the rest of Ladybug’s body looked the same. “Perfectly preserved to be a toy for her kid,” he muttered. “Talk about morbid.”

“She’ll get what’s coming to her. We’ll deal with that soon enough,” Ladybug assured. They moved the toys away, uncovering the rest of Ladybug’s body.

Adrien looked at Ladybug with a smile. “It’s the moment of truth. Are you ready?”

“I’ve never been readier for everything in my life,” Ladybug said back. “I’m ready to remember who I am.”

Adrien nodded and flipped the body over, so Ladybug could see the face. “Who is this girl?”

Ladybug scanned over the face with her eyes, but nothing came to mind. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “I…I can’t recognize her.”

Adrien pursed his lips. They did not come this far to burn out during the final stretch. “Yes, you can,” Adrien pushed. “Think harder. Really look, Ladybug. Who completes our puzzle? Chat Noir and Ladybug. Adrien and Mari…”

“Nette…,” Ladybug whispered, the rest of the name spilling from her mouth and surprising even her. “Marinette. My name is Marinette!” There was a bright flash as Ladybug’s locked memories flooded her head. Her form completely vanished.

Her body began to glow, first lightly, then it was shrouded in a harsh light. A loud gasp echoed through the room as Marinette opened her eyes. She blinked, then looked around. She sat up and looked at her solid hands, then her stomach, then her legs.

She looked up at Adrien, who was looking back at her in awe. “Marinette…”

“Adrien!” she exclaimed. She laughed in disbelief and captured him a hug. “We did it! We really did it!”

“It’s so nice to feel your touch again,” Adrien said softly, hugging her back. “I’m so glad you’re back…”

“Me too,” Marinette said softly. “There’s only one more thing to do.” She let go of him and looked at the toys surrounding them. “But before that, I have a promise to keep.”

She gathered the toys they put aside and got to work, building a scooter out of the old toy parts. She smiled once she was finished, proud of her quick but quality work. She stood and held it out to Boh. “You’re getting to be a big boy,” she cooed. “I think you need big boy toys, don’t you think?”

Boh accepted the scooter and looked it over. “Thank you. You’re nice and pretty. I want to be your friend.”

Marinette smiled gently. “I’d like that, Boh. But first, can you tell me where to find your mama? It’s very important that we see her.”

Boh pointed to the right. “She’s at home,” he explained. “Through the biggest tent.”

Marinette frowned. “She lives in a tent…?”

Boh nodded. “Because she wants to live close to her work.”

Marinette exchange glances with Adrien. “Then we’ve better get going.” She smiled. “Thank you, Boh. We’ll see you soon.”

Boh quieted and played with his new toy. Marinette took Adrien’s hand and together, walked out of the little shack. Following Boh’s instructions, they came before the biggest tent.

“How are we sure this isn’t a trap?” Adrien asked. “Boh could have been lying.”

Marinette looked at Adrien and shook her head. “No,” she said. “The best thing about young children is that they don’t have ulterior motives. Boh just wants a friend. Since we’re his friends now, he wouldn’t lie to us.”

“Then this is it?”

Marinette nodded. “This is it. Spots on!”

“Claws out!”

The both of them transformed into their spirit forms. Ladybug took a deep breath and led the way into the tent. Chat Noir followed closely behind.

Ladybug narrowed her eyes once they walked inside. Yubaba was not there. Instead, a large portal sat in the middle of the room. “A bridge… Even with my magic in the way, she was able to open a full bridge…”

“Which means, we’ve got one shot,” Chat Noir said. They took each other’s hands. Together, they jumped through the portal.

They rolled safely on the other side of the portal and landed in the office of Yubaba’s spa resort. Ladybug looked around, first noting the amount of gold that piled in the room. The second thing she noticed was the number of butterflies that floated around. She narrowed her eyes. The butterfly miraculous was close by. Was it possible for them to take it back the miraculous without facing Yubaba at all?

“I sense it,” Ladybug announced. “It’s in the desk.” She pulled her yoyo from its place at her side and wrapped it around the desk. She pulled until the string sliced the desk in half.

Chat noir smiled and walked over to the rubble. He shuffled through it, looking for the piece of troublemaking jewelry.

“That,” a scratchy voice hissed from the doorway of the office. “Is far enough.”

Ladybug looked at Yubaba with a glare. “I could say the same to you. You’ve disrespected the balance. You’ve been stealing humans and using them as slaves and possessions to make money. Did you really think the guardians of the bridge could let that go by unpunished?”

“You guardians have outlasted your use,” Yubaba scowled. “It’s time for you both to expire.”

Ladybug glanced at Chat Noir. “Find it,” she commanded. She took a fighting pose, eyeing Yubaba carefully.

Yubaba scowled. She growled and formed a ball of fire in her hands. She threw it at Ladybug.

Ladybug gasped and quickly spun her yoyo in front of her to stop the fireball. Yubaba growled and threw another, then another. She stepped closer after every throw.

Ladybug bit her bottom lip. She was on the defensive and she did not like that at all. She looked around for anything at all that could help her get the upper hand again. She couldn’t let Yubaba reach that miraculous.

Chat Noir suddenly stood. “I found it!”

Ladybug glanced backward, her eyes going wide. There was one surefire way that Yubaba could not abuse the power of the butterfly miraculous ever again. “Chat!” Ladybug said quickly. “Destroy it! Now!”

“No!” Yubaba screamed. “Don’t you dare!”

Chat did not even think about his choice. He simply listened to the words of his Lady and reacted. “Cataclysm!” he yelled. The enchanted jewelry turned brown, then crumpled into nothing.

Yubaba stopped throwing fireballs in shock. “You…You destroyed it?!”

Ladybug sighed with relief, finally bringing her yoyo down to her side. “It’s over, Yubaba.”

The witch growled with anger and used her magic to yank Ladybug to her. Ladybug grunted and struggled against the invisible grip. Yubaba hissed, “You’ve been a pain in my side for sixteen long years. I think it’s time to crush you like the little bug you are.”

Ladybug said nothing, instead, she struggled, desperately using her magic in hopes of escaping the telekinetic hold on her.

Yubaba chuckled darkly. “Body or no body, you’re still weak. I’m still much stronger than you. I have the power to end you instantly.”

“Y-yeah…,” Ladybug grunted. “But you’ve forgotten one very important detail.” She smirked despite Yubaba’s hold on her. “My partner.”

At that cue, Chat Noir jumped into action, using his staff and all his strength to hit Yubaba away from Ladybug. Yubaba went flying into the wall. Ladybug sighed with relief as the magic that bound her faded. She smiled softly and looked at Chat. She took his hand.

Chat Noir gave her hand a squeeze in return, then focused his attention to Yubaba, who was finally gathering her bearing and standing. “Yubaba, witch of the resort,” he started.

“You have been found guilty of disrupting the fragile balance between the human and spirit world,” Ladybug said. “In addition, you’ve been found guilty of possessing and kidnapping humans through an unauthorized wormhole.”

“For your punishment, we, the Guardians of the Bridge, revoke you of your powers and command that you live out the rest of your days as a mortal,” Chat Noir finished. He raised his free hand and closed his eyes. His hand glowed with dark energy and Yubaba let out a groan of weakness as her magical aura left her. It gathered in Chat Noir’s hand. He closed it and the magic disappeared.

Yubaba groaned again and fell to her knees. “No… My magic… It’s all gone…”

Chat Noir paid her no mind. Instead, he looked at his partner. “It’s time to restore the balance.” Ladybug bit her lip in hesitation. Chat Noir tilted his head in confusion. “What’s bothering you, my Lady?”

“If I do this…,” Ladybug said softly. “Your life as Adrien Agreste will cease to exist. We’ll be guardians again and you’ll never see your friends and family again. You’ll be stuck with just me…”

“Ladybug…,” Chat Noir chuckled and gave a shake of his head. “You are my best friend. You are my true family. A better partner and soulmate than anyone could ever ask for. I would return to your side, even if the balance was not restored. Wherever you are, is where I want to be.”

A light blush dusted over her face. “Chaton…”

“The spell, my Lady.”

Ladybug nodded and closed her eyes. She glowed with power as her magic shined bright. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

With a bright flash, the construction site and the amusement park that it hid were gone. The humans were returned without memory of the spirit world and their possessions. The bridge was restored, as were Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s full magic.

With the spell, any memory of Adrien Agreste vanished. Not even his best friend, the catalyst for this grand adventure, could recall his name. The only exception was one Chihiro Ogino. She smiled softly as she left the school, no one needing a substitute teacher any longer.

She texted a number on her phone to meet her in front of the school. A handsome man with ocean blue, shoulder length hair and the built of a model appeared from thin air only a moment later. “The balance is restored,” he reported. “I suppose we have you to thank for that, Sen?”

Chihiro giggled. “Don’t be silly, Haku. It was all the guardians. I just…gave them a push in the right direction. I knew that’s what I had to do to see you again.”

Haku chuckled and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “You’ve done great. The bridge has been restored. I’ll be sure to visit every day to thank you in person.”

Chihiro chuckled and smiled against his lips. “I look forward to it.”

————————————

With the bridge restored, Ladybug and Chat Noir returned to their rightful places, sitting in front of it. Ladybug laid her head on Chat’s shoulder. “I never would have been able to do it without you.”

“I know,” Chat said with a wide grin. “I just wish you knew sixteen years ago.”

Ladybug nodded. “I really messed up back then. But, I’m glad I did.”

“Why’s that?”

Ladybug responded with a grin of her own. “Now I know you’re cute even without the cat ears, Adrien Agreste.”

Chat Noir chuckled and dropped his transformation. “Seriously, Ladybug? That’s the lesson you learn from all of this?”

“What?” Ladybug joked, leaning closer to him. “I can’t hear you. Your cuteness is overwhelming, Adrien.”

Adrien laughed. “Come here.” He closed the distance between them and ended their sixteen-year nightmare with a kiss.

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Bonus:

“Chat Noir’s a better kisser than you.”

“Yeah? Well, Marinette is a way better kisser than you.”

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the story! I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think! I love hearing back from you guys!
> 
> ~Koneko~


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